A mum who says she is forced to eat her daughter's leftover food to survive has hit out at Jeremy Hunt's autumn statement.
Alongside a 6.7% rise in Universal Credit, the chancellor announced this week that welfare recipients who do not get a job within 18 months would need to take on work experience to get them back into employment - leaving people on benefits asking the Government to put themselves in their shoes.
But Charlene Hughes, who relies on food banks and is medically unable to work due to mental health issues and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), said the proposed increase in benefits from would still leave her struggling to buy essentials amid the cost of living crisis.
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She watched the statement, and said the rise would only equate to around £10 extra a week for her. Ms Hughes, 36, who lives in Barnstaple, Devon, told the PA news agency: "As a single parent, £10 a week would basically buy bread, butter, milk and juice - that's pretty much all I could get. I watched [the statement] and I thought 'wow' - it hit home a little bit. My heating bills are around £2,500, which are in arrears, so £10 a week doesn't really go very far. I basically live off what my daughter doesn't eat and food bank stuff. The thought's nice, but it doesn't really help people like myself."
Ms Hughes said she had "always worked" until she got Covid. "I was poorly, I lost my dad and got into debt," she said. "I had the flu, I was put into intensive care and my COPD is never going to get any better and I suffer with my mental health - I'm going through a schizophrenia assessment."
Aidan Wood, 43, a wheelchair user who receives new style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and housing benefits, meanwhile said that he would roughly receive an extra £100 a month when the increase comes into effect - but is unsure if this will be able to keep up with rising prices. Mr Wood, who also has autism and is going through the diagnosis process for ADHD, said :"At the moment, to try and enjoy life as much as I can, I scrimp on some things that I probably shouldn't like my grocery bill."
Mr Wood, who lives in Pentrebane, Wales, added: "It will be interesting to see how much everything else goes up by to see if I'm actually £100 a month better off." He said news about people on benefits that have not found work after 18 months being "sanctioned" and put on a mandatory work scheme lacks clarity. "It doesn't say which benefits are being targeted, so I'm hoping against hope that those of us on the higher rate of ESA in terms of the protected category are still protected."
He added that Mr Hunt's plans for more "opportunities" for those on benefits by putting more into the workplace, is a "euphemism for a stick" due to the lack of opportunities available for those with disabilities. "I used to have a prosthetic but can't wear that anymore and I'm in a wheelchair, so physically there's not a lot I can do," he said. "As I have autism, when I was working in retail in a local supermarket, and probably shouldn't have, I would frequently make mistakes because I would get stressed out, feeling rushed on the checkouts."
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